OCEAN COUNTY – As we get deeper into the winter season, we inch closer and closer to those snow days that the kids have been waiting for since September. Officials in Ocean County want you to know that all of the road crews and necessary departments are more than ready to tackle that first snow fall of the season.
As many do, you may have a love/hate relationship with the snow. It is indeed beautiful, but it causes endless problems with roads, travel and accessibility. Ocean County officials said that they are prepared; equipped with 200 trucks and 175 employees ready to salt and clear the roads as fast as possible so you don’t have to hate the snow this year.
“Certainly it’s early in the season but we know the weather can be fickle,” said Freeholder Deputy Director Gerry P. Little, who serves as liaison to the Ocean County Road Department. “With drops in the temperature expected and some forecasters talking about a wintry mix this weekend, we want our citizens to know Ocean County is well prepared for winter weather – whenever it gets here and whatever form it comes in.”
Whatever “wintry mix” we are to be expecting, road crews have been readying salt spreaders, attaching plows to trucks, and mixing the snow-clearing brine that help the county to clear our roads.
The brine mixture is used first to coat the road to prevent the snow from piling up massively. However, it doesn’t work for rain that later transforms to snow. County Road Supervisor J. Thomas Curcio noted that brine is cost-effective and, when spread on the roads first, makes the plowing process much easier.
The first roads to be plowed will be the 500 series; roads like Hooper Avenue, Route 571, and Route 539. The County begins with main roads like these and then moves on to plow secondary roads and neighborhoods.
Ocean County Freeholder John P. Kelly, Director of Law and Public Safety, reminds all residents to take after the County and prepare themselves individually for the weather ahead.
“While we have had mild days, it’s never too soon to prepare for the approaching winter,” Kelly said. “From winterizing our cars to our homes, having safety kits, a fresh supply of batteries for flashlights and radios along with other essentials, being prepared makes a lot of sense and saves a lot of time and headaches when a storm does hit.”
